More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

On World Press Freedom Day, CPJ calls for the release of all jailed journalists

By Shazdeh Omari/CPJ News Editor

New York, April 29, 2014—Uzbek editor Muhammad Bekjanov has been in jail for 15 years, one of the longest imprisonments of journalists worldwide. Prominent Iranian journalist Siamak Ghaderi was imprisoned in 2010 and has been beaten and whipped in custody. Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai, serving a 12-year jail term, could barely walk or talk during a prison visit in July 2013, his family said.

The
Committee to Protect Journalists this week joined a campaign spearheaded by
Human Rights Watch and Uzbek human rights defenders urging Czech President Milos
Zeman to cancel Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov's visit to Prague. Zeman had invited Karimov
to visit
this month despite the Central Asian leader's notorious intolerance to freedom
of the press and freedom of expression, and Uzbekistan's abysmal human rights
record, which includes the Andijan massacre of May 2005.

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Following an established trend, authoritarian Uzbek leader Islam Karimov promised to address journalists' concerns but did not follow through by ending the repressive climate for the press in the country. The decades-long harassment against government critics has virtually wiped out the media landscape, forcing the domestic and international community to rely on rumors or leaked diplomatic cables to get information on topics including the aging leader's health or his reaction to international events. At least four journalists remained in jail in late 2013, where they were allegedly tortured and denied appropriate medical care. Human rights activists, including those in exile, also faced official harassment and prosecution after reporting on corruption and abuses in Uzbekistan. One exiled human rights activist, Nadezhda Atayeva, was sentenced to seven years in absentia on embezzlement charges after reporting on human rights abuses. One journalist, Sergei Naumov, was jailed on fabricated charges of hooliganism just days after an Uzbek official denied jailing critics and assured the U.N. Human Rights Council that authorities were complying with international human rights standards. But this soon became hard to verify: Citing official obstruction to its work, the International Committee of the Red Cross publicly announced in April that it had terminated visits to Uzbek prisons.

For the second consecutive year, Turkey was the world’s
leading jailer of journalists, followed closely by Iran and China. The number
of journalists in prison globally decreased from a year earlier but remains
close to historical highs. A CPJ special
report by Elana Beiser

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New York, September 24, 2013--Uzbek authorities should
immediately release Sergei Naumov, an independent freelance journalist who
reports on human rights abuses in the closed Central Asian society, and scrap
the fabricated charges against him on appeal.

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New York, June 27, 2013--Uzbek President Islam Karimov should follow
through on his public commitment today to support his country's journalists by
releasing the unjustly jailed reporter Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov immediately, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said today. News accounts have reported that
the health of Abdurakhmanov, who has been imprisoned since 2008, has
deteriorated in prison.

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New
York, April 2, 2013--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing
imprisonment of independent Uzbek editor Muhammad Bekjanov, whose health has
severely deteriorated in jail, and urges authorities to immediately release him
so that he may receive medical care. Bekjanov and a colleague, both of whom
were jailed in 1999, have been in prison for longer than any other journalists
worldwide, according to CPJ research.

In the most tightly controlled countries, the media is told
what they are allowed to report on and what topics are taboo. Anything related to
the leader's health or his family is generally in the latter category. The
resulting information vacuum can lead to rumors and uncertainty.

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News
is rare from Uzbek prisons, where authorities are holding at least four
independent reporters in retaliation for critical journalism: Muhammad
Bekjanov, Yusuf Ruzimuradov, Dilmurod Saiid, and Salidzhon Abdurakhmanov. All four
are serving lengthy sentences. Uzbek authorities refuse even to update CPJ or
other human rights organizations on the journalists' whereabouts, status, or
well-being.